Ranger Contact and Permit Info

Updated August 2011, see revision history for details.ADDITIONS, UPDATES AND CORRECTIONS WOULD BE APPRECIATED!

Some ranger stations have a list of place names associated with them:
let me know if the place you're going isn't listed, and I'll add it!
Numbers known to have changed are marked with a year like [2009].
Various wilderness areas and parks are shown below, so you can
scroll through them for a roughly North to South listing.
To report errors (or to add more ranger stations, parks, or forests to the list) please
contact Steve Eckert and help make
this an accurate resource for planning climbs.

This list was prepared as a convenient reference for contacting rangers in California.
Many BUT NOT ALL of which are in or near the Sierra Nevada, either for backcountry
permits or for information on trail and weather conditions. Someday it would be nice
if it were linked to the Climber.Org Trailheads Page
and/or our other compilations of data - any volunteers?.

Use your browser to search for a specific forest or park names, or click here:

See also the JMT Crib Sheet with shuttle, rental, shower, hotel, and ranger info for John Muir Trail hikers.

This file should make it easier to find the right number at the right place, but Matt Austern says it best:

"All this was once accurate, some info may be out of date now. Use at your own risk, any monetary loss
inconvenience, bodily injury or death resulting from the use or dissemination of this information is
the responsibility of the reader. No warranty expressed or implied etc etc. Do you believe everything
you read?"

Check the links above for current details on Sierra and Inyo National Forests!
Starting in 2003, the forest service will issue permits over the phone with
a credit card (760-873-2483), or you can reserve permits by mail. If you want
your permit left in a night drop box, call that same number between 8-10 am
one or two days before your trip. After 10am they will be busy issuing permits
(which are only reserved from 10am to 4pm). Most locations allow free walk-up
permits the day before you hike in.

The quota page link above shows a list of trailheads and how many people can enter
per day: 60% of this quota is reservable in advance, and the reservation agent can
"borrow" from the next day's quota if your group is too large and you're in more than
one night. Note that trailheads with a quota of '0' have NO QUOTA YEAR ROUND.

Yosemite and other parks are NOT part of the Forest Service permit system,
but you can enter the parks from a forest trailhead without getting a park permit...
which sometimes provides a way to get around strict quotas.

See the Climber.Org
Bear Box page for backcountry food lockers.
Approved Bear Canisters are required on some trails,
but requirements (and which cannisters are approved)
change too often to list them here.

Jim Hasak reports in 2005: The chalet at Lassen Park was demolished last winter. This summer they set
a portable building in the parking lot at the Mt. Lassen trailhead. It
housed the gift shop and a reduced-service snack bar. The portable is now
gone, presumably to be returned late in the spring. A new permanent
structure is planned - I don't know the construction schedule. Meanwhile,
there is still a restroom with running water near the parking lot, just
beyond the ranger booth at the south entrance to the Park.

In winter the road is closed just past entrance station,
6 miles north of Hwy 36 on Hwy 89. Plowed parking near the "Chalet",
which has year-round pay phones and restrooms, and had self-issue
permits as of 12/99 even tho the rangers said there were none. [1999]
Go to Table of Contents

http://www.nps.gov/pinn/
PINNACLES NATIONAL MONUMENT
5000 Hwy. 146
Paicines, CA 95043
831-389-4485 east side park headquarters (no phone on west side) [2000]
Pinnacles Monument is part of National Park Service.
There are no trail quotas. There are no permits required
for hiking in the park, unless a person is making a profit
from using park resources. An example of this would be a
climbing school that brings groups to Pinnacles to climb.[2000]
Visitor center is open from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm every day.
The park is open during the winter from 7:30 am to 6:00 pm.
In the spring, the hours are usually 7:30 to 7:00, and
in the summer, they are 7:30 to 9:00. [2000]